This Time It's Not Putin: Ukraine Flirts With Political Suicide
- Discord within ruling coalition laid bare in parliament brawl
- Tensions risk derailing $17.5 billion IMF bailout loan
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Who needs Vladimir Putin to knock Ukraine off its post-revolutionary path? The nation’s current rulers are managing by themselves.
While the Russian president’s new focus on Syria has helped soothe the conflict in eastern Ukraine, offering a window for reform and recovery from a recession, the administration in Kiev is being overrun by internal squabbles. This month’s fist fight in parliament and an expletive-filled clash between a minister and a regional governor underline discord that’s threatening to sink the government and derail a $17.5 billion International Monetary Fund rescue. The next flash point will be a vote on the 2016 budget.